Grapes Return to Australia’s Yarra River Valley

The 19th-Century Gold Rush that had moved on from California to the south of Australia was over, but there were “those who stayed with eyes to see the beauty of the glade, the sparkling streams, the misty waterfalls, amid the tall sylvestral forest walls.”

These lines are from a poem written to commemorate this year’s 100th birthday of the shire of Healesville, founded by those who had stayed on to begin new lives in the Yarra River Valley.

Their vineyards flourished for decades, then faded like the gold rush around the turn of the century, after the vines were attacked by an uncontrollable plant insect.

Now the vineyards have been reborn, bringing wineries back to a valley that has become a vacationland along Yarra River and its tributaries, from the foothills of the Great Dividing Range into the city of Melbourne.

It’s a valley popular with the people of Melbourne for weekend getaways and ready for rediscovery by the travel world as Australia celebrates its bicentennial year.

The Maroondah Highway

Highway 34 winds out from Melbourne through the vineyard country of the Yarra Valley to Healesville, then on into the Great Dividing Range. From Melbourne suburbs to the foothills is scarcely 40 miles along Highway 34, the poetically named Maroondah Highway.

The gold rush that came to New South Wales and then to Victoria, in Australia, began in California’s Mother Lode near Sacramento, where an English gold seeker named Edward Hargreaves was reminded of similar terrain he had seen in New South Wales. He returned to England and found gold there.

To keep its own people from trekking off to the New South Wales gold field, Melbourne offered a reward of 200 British for anyone who could find gold within 100 miles of the city. The gold fields that included those around the Yarra Valley were soon discovered.

Names make poetry and are part of history all along the Maroondah Highway. Most wineries are centered around Lilydale and Coldstream. Nine are open for sampling and cellar door sales. Fergusson’s, on Wills Road at Dixon’s Creek, has a colonial restaurant.

Kellybrook Winery in Wonga Park serves dinners Friday and Saturday, lunch on Sunday. Yarra Burn Vineyards at Yarra Junction features its own red and white table wines at its Settlement restaurant. One of the most-visited wineries is St. Hubert’s, just off Maroondah Highway near Coldstream.

Other Attractions

Directions to the vineyards and other attractions of the area are available at the tourist information office on Maroondah Highway in the resort town of Healesville. At the turn of the century, Healesville was one of the most popular weekend and vacation retreats for Melbourne residents. Now, in the centenary of the town and its shire, it is again becoming a destination as well as a gateway to the mountains.

Last November the Healesville Old Mechanics Gallery opened a “Variety is the Spice of Life” exhibition by Melbourne-born artist Gill Brooks, who teaches in Healesville and whose watercolors and screen prints are in private collections in the United States, Japan and Europe. The Healesville Art Gallery, Lapidary and Pottery Center at the foot of Mt. Riddell showcases the arts and crafts of the region.

This month the Ballet Centre of Healesville is again presenting a program performed by young people of the community under the direction of Susan Stanton, who grew up in Long Beach and Rolling Hills Estates.

The Sir Colin MacKenzie Wildlife Sanctuary, now widely known as the Healesville Sanctuary, has become a major attraction in Australia, with koalas, kangaroos, wombats and a great variety of birds living in re-creations of their natural habitats.

Healesville has its own municipal band and the Flyer Rock Band. There are four tennis clubs here, greyhound and horse racing clubs and the RCVA Country Golf Club, which has many affiliations with clubs around the world, including the Los Angeles Athletic Club and the Balboa Bay Club of Newport Beach.

Mecca for Canoeists

Waterways of the Yarra Valley are drawing canoeists and anglers, and winter ski trails of the Great Dividing Range will be taken over by hikers.

From Healesville the highway rises to Maroondah Reservoir, a lake with landscaped walks, picnic and barbecue sites. Just beyond is the resort center of Marysville. Maroondah Highway then winds on to the country towns of Eildon and Alexandra on Lake Eildon, a boating and fishing mecca. Gold was discovered around Alexandra 120 years ago. Mt. Buller beyond Lake Eildon and the foothill is a prime ski area.

South from Maroondah Highway between Melbourne and Healesville, the Dandenong Ranges have 50,000 acres of national parks and forest preserves. Lyre birds walk beside you along the shaded tracks of Sherbrooke Forest. Puffing Billy is a narrow-gauge steam train ride for rail buffs of all ages.

Close to Lilydale, Warburton Highway forks off from the Maroondah to lead to other explorations around the Yarra Valley. Above Warburton, a mountain road climbs to the scenic summit of 4,077-foot Mt. Donna Buang, overlooking trails for cross-country skiing and tobogganing in winter, hiking in the summer sunshine of the Christmas season.

The 33-room Alpine Retreat Hotel overlooks the Yarra River at Warburton. Double rooms are $62 Australian, or about $40 U.S. at the favorable exchange rate that continues to make Australia a budget destination for American visitors. Right in and around Healesville are half a dozen accommodations varying from the old Grand Hotel to the Ferns Guest House.

Sanctuary House is set in 10 acres of natural bush next to the Healesville Sanctuary. A double room with breakfast is about $35 U.S. Restaurants along Maroondah Highway in Healesville vary from the Blue Bell Bird to Jo Bangles, Oi Kwun Cafe and Ming Garden.

Tandem bicycles can be rented in Healesville for around $4 U.S. an hour, single bikes for under $3.

For more information on travel to Australia, contact the Australian Tourist Commission, 2121 Avenue of the Stars, Suite 1200, Los Angeles 90067, (213) 552-1988.